Medical samples, such as blood, urine or other exudates, are often taken from a patient at a clinic or doctor's office and then sent to a laboratory elsewhere for analysis. The sample is sometimes chilled or even frozen before being sent for analysis. Other times it is imperative to maintain the sample at room temperature. Thus it is desirable to maintain the temperature of the sample, be it room or sub-room temperature, while in transit to the laboratory until the time of analysis.
Although many insulating devices are well known, ranging from insulated boxes to insulated flasks, it is desirable to provide an inexpensive device for maintaining the temperature of medical samples for a predetermined period of time.